POTTSTOWN >> As they sunk their 11th and final point to clinch victory in the 2016 Pottstown Rumble Volleyball Tournament men’s open final, Mark Burik and Hudson Bates showed how to act like champions who’d tasted victory before.
The champions were happy to pose for pictures with fans immediately after their victory, despite looking exhausted from the hard earned win under the night sky.
“It’s been good playing together for as long as we have,” said Burik, now a four-time Rumble champion, Sunday night. “This feels good anytime we can have success together. We work so well together. It feels good every time.”
“It was so awesome to play against the boys from college,” said Bates, who has now won the Rumble a total of five times.
The Rumble, which is considered the country’s largest grass volleyball tournament, started on Thursday and continued on Sunday at Memorial Park. This is the tournament’s 25th year.
The duo faced fellow George Mason University alumni Eric Lucas and Andrew Dentler in the best of three finals and won a check for $7,000 after taking games 1 and 2. “It was an all Mason final. There’s such good representation in that program. As always the fans, they make it so much fun and so worth it.”
When asked how they planned to spend the prize money, Bates said he planned to use a portion of the money to put a down payment on a house.
On the women’s side, sophomore Rumblers Dana Fuime and Hillary Hunter walked away with the $3,000 prize first time after coming up short the year before.
“We’re just very excited we won,” Hunter said. “It’s our second grass tournament ever. We played last year for the first time and came in second. This year is our second time and we were able to win it, so it’s awesome.”
They unanimously said they’d take their prize money and use it towards a cruise vacation.
This year’s Rumble went off without a hitch, said Seth Kaas, assistant tournament director.
“We had perfect weather, great numbers, just a phenomenal event,” he said. “Weather makes everything go better. I think the vibe was good, our inflatable playoff board was a big hit, I think the talent was out of control. The men’s and women’s open levels were really high levels. It was great.”
Both Burik and Bates agreed and had nothing but praise for the Rumble on its quarter century birthday.
“It’s the best tournament,” Burik said. “It’s massive. No one has a bad time here. It’s so cool and everybody’s slapping hands. Everybody’s supporting each other. Best tournament there is.”
“It’s all about the community,” Bates said. “The people here in this town and everybody comes from all over the country to play it makes this just so good to be a part of.”
